Deanna Cintas started as a counselor at Banks Elementary and Banks Junior High in the spring of 2012 and resigned the following year, according to Superintendent Bob Huston.

TSPC received a report from the district in mid-April 2013 stating Cintas "failed to make a mandatory report of a possible child abuse situation,” according to documents from the agency.

Oregon law requires public or private officials to report if they come in contact with a child they believe may have been abused.

On April 12, 2013 a student told Cintas and other staff that he was worried about going home after school. His teacher had contacted his mother that day, and he “knew he would be in trouble with his mom,” according to the TSPC final order.

“The student and his sister explained that when he got in trouble, his mother would get mad and sometimes physically abuse him by smacking him,” the document states.

Cintas, 35, interviewed and worked with the students, acting as their main contact. She sent the students home without speaking with the Department of Human Services or law enforcement officials.

A principal had the children stopped on their way home and brought back to school. Law enforcement was then contacted to report the possible abuse.

“The administration determined that if they had not intervened in the situation, the involved children would have been sent home to a possible abusive situation, and in their opinion, Cintas would never have made the required mandatory abuse report,” TSPC documentation states.

District reports also showed four other instances where Cintas should have made a report but didn’t do it immediately, did not realize the need to do so or had to be asked to complete the report. The district said they had worked with Cintas multiple times “in an effort to correct deficiencies in this area,” according to the report.

According to TSPC, Cintas disagreed with the district’s claims. Her personnel file didn’t formally document previous issues with mandatory reporting or additional training in the subject.

Cintas did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Huston said all employees are trained annually on the requirements of mandatory reporting. Counselors have especially focused training on the process.

“We just expect them to be the most knowledgeable,” he said.

Cintas received her counseling licensing in September 2010. She did not renew her license by its expiration in September 2013.

According to Melody Hanson, TSPC director of professional practices, Cintas is subject to a four-year probation period, meaning she can be monitored, if she applies to renew her license.

Cintas must also complete and document additional training in child abuse reporting if she chooses to reapply for her license. The probation period would begin the date her license is reinstated, Hanson said.